Once again, our country mourns the loss of innocent American lives because of gunfire in places that are supposed to be safe. And once again, we are hearing the same B.S. from the people we elect.

I’m not talking about just one side or political party. BOTH parties are guilty of B.S. AFTER another senseless tragedy. The only difference this time is the speed at which the politicians came out to defend their positions.

One side scolds us that “this is not the time” and that “we need more facts” before we can assess what happened. What happened?! 17 innocent lives have been taken by a weapon of war that should never have been available to civilians in the first place! That’s what happened!

The other side patronizes us by assuring us to elect them the majority next election and, we’ll see, they’ll fix things and make our streets safe again. Like we have the time to wait until next November! We don’t!

Military assault rifles are weapons of war, designed to efficiently kill lots of people quickly. They are not sports rifles nor are they for hunting. The ammunition for assault rifles are different from other guns, they rip apart flesh and organs, that is what they are designed to do.

Access to weapons is also vital. Not everyone can legally operate a vehicle. And we have to re-register our vehicles and renew our driver’s licenses. When we renew our licenses, our record is reviewed for safety purposes.

Why can’t we do the same thing with gun registration?

This young man yesterday got these weapons and the ammunition for them somehow. And everyone who knew of him said he had problems, as well as his record showed him to be a threat.

How did this young man, who had not completed high school, get such an expensive weapon and all the expensive ammunition and multiple magazines? Was he enabled by someone else?

We need answers, not political posturing.

And we need immediate solutions to assure us that our kids are safe when they enter school.

My children our grown and on their own now but, as a parent, I know how terrifying it feels, even for a few minutes, when you don’t know if your children are safe when something has happened. I cannot begin to imagine how it must feel for these parents who were told their child would not be coming home. My heart cries for them. I thank God and feel blessed that I never got that call. But as a parent, I don’t want anymore parents to have to suffer this. I don’t want to see the terrified faces of our American children who don’t want to go back to school again after having to step over the dead bodies of their classmates.

I hope that as Americans, we can throw our political differences aside, and that our lawmakers will take their public trust seriously and toss away the “blood money” from the NRA and gun lobby, and that we will begin solutions to protect our children.

I hope that this time we will act, not argue, for a solution. Other countries have done it, why not us?